Multiplayer video games, which enable two or more players to play in a cooperative or adversarial relationship during a gameplay session, have exploded in popularity due, in part, to services such as Microsoft's Xbox LIVE® and Sony's PlayStation Network®, which enable gamers all over the world to play with or against one another.
First-person shooter games are one example of a popular genre of multiplayer video games. Typically, in a first-person shooter game, players may customize a weapon for use during gameplay. For example, a player may be presented with options to personalize various weapon attributes to alter a weapon's performance and/or appearance. Prior to commencing a gameplay session, a player may, for instance, select a particular weapon, equip the selected weapon with one or more weapon attachments, and apply a desired finish (e.g., a particular paint job, camouflage, etc.). Oftentimes, a player may select and customize a weapon based on game type, his or her role within the game (e.g., sniper), individual preferences, or other considerations.
In many instances, if a player opts to alter a customized weapon, the weapon in its previous configuration is erased. As such, a player that wishes to use a previously-customized weapon must recreate the customized weapon from scratch. This process can be time consuming and frustrating for gamers.
In some first-person shooter games, players may have personalized or customized player profiles that enable them to customize the appearance of their avatar (or game character), their weapons, perks or special abilities, and the like. For example, in “Call of Duty®,” the first-person shooter video game franchise published by Activision Publishing, Inc., players may create a personalized class, also referred to as a “loadout,” to be used in a gameplay session. In many such first-person shooter games, however, if a player wishes to utilize a customized weapon in a different profile (or class), the player must again create the customized weapon from scratch.
The requirement to recreate customized weapons at various points of gameplay in a first-person shooter video game may result in a poor or unsatisfying player experience. This may result in a decreased desire to continue playing the video game.
Further, current first-person shooter games do not appear to enable players to make their customized weapons available for use by other game players during a gameplay session, nor do performance statistics for customized weapons appear to be monitored, stored, or shared.
These and other drawbacks exist with customization of weapons in current first-person shooter multiplayer video games.